Sba 20110810 - accelerate your business using web technology
-
Upload
allanchao -
Category
Technology
-
view
650 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Sba 20110810 - accelerate your business using web technology
Accelerate Your Business Using Web Technology
Allan ChaoStartup [email protected]
San Francisco SBA 2011
IntroductionsWho you areWhat you doWhat you would like to learn about
The Agenda Ways to Build a Website
Ways to build a website yourself How to Hire a Freelancer Website building process and companies
Mobile and Smartphone Technology iPhone vs Android vs Blackberry vs Windows Mobile Native apps vs web apps
Customer Relations Management (CRM) Your memory Excel SalesForce vs HighRise vs Others
Cloud based apps What is the Cloud? Google Apps IP telephony (Skype, Grasshopper) Cloud storage (Dropbox) E-Contracts, Digital Signatures (Docusign) Digital Invoicing (Freshbooks)
Websites… before we startThink about your target budget first!!!
$0 = Ask a friend to do it for free… (more on this later)$10-$100 = Do-It-Yourself website building tools$500-2500 = Individual freelancer$1500-7500 = Full service company$20,000+ = Hire someone full time in-house
Also think about your target timeline2-6 weeks = Full service company2-3 months = freelancer3-6 months = a friend doing it for free
You get what you put into it (money, time, effort)
DIY Website BuildingAdvantages:
FREE! (or very low cost)Total ownershipChange content at your willEasy? (if tech-savvy)
Disadvantages:Lots to learnMost time consumingAlways template-based, not customizableMust be moderately tech-savvy
DIY Website Building ToolsBest and the worst
Best Wordpress.com SquareSpace.com MoonFruit.com
Worst Web.com Vistaprint Instant Website GoDaddy Website Tonight
Let’s Build a Basic WebsiteAre we going to learn HTML? NO!!!For this example, we’ll use Wordpress.comAny ideas for the topic?
http://www.randomwebsite.com/Choose a template designWrite some basic content, add a picture or
twoAdd a contact formWe’re done!
Hiring a FreelancerFinding a Freelancer
Craigslist Online web browsing ($$$)Online freelancer sites: (high risk for the non-technical)
RentaCoder Odesk Elance
In-person Networking and Referrals Most Common Mistake: Having someone you know do it
for free (or for almost nothing)Never finishesLow qualityEventually end up re-doing it completely
Questions to ask a FreelancerWhat area do you specialize in, and who does the
rest?Graphic Design = the look and feelProgramming = the codeMarketing = the search engine placementCopywriting = the content on the site
What CMS platform do you recommend (if any)?Wordpress – popular, but not a silver bulletJoomla / Drupal / dotnetNone
Project cost and timeline?Most importantly, ask yourself: Do you trust them?
Common Freelancer PitfallsStrength in a single skill, weak in others
Great designers don’t program!Great programmers don’t design!Neither group does marketing!
Jack of all trades, master of noneMutually exclusive skill sets…E.g. auto mechanic vs paint job
Poor project planningGoes over budget in both time and moneyConstantly feel “out of the loop”
Why use a Company?Aspects of Website Creation
Architecture and platformUser interface designGraphic designProgrammingCopywritingMarketing
SEO (organic) SEM (keyword bidding) Ad Networks (display ads, banner ads)
More expensive in the beginning, but better resultsBetter as a long term investment
SEO = Search Engine Optimizationaka “organic” listings“I want to be on the top of Google!”For small businesses, target “long-tail” keywords.
E.g. “San Francisco flood repair”, not “flood repair”Very complex algorithms, constant changesCan be very challenging, depending on market
saturation“Guaranteed rankings” are “blackhat”! Google will
ban the site!Trust is very important, fraud/cheating is pervasive
SEM = Search Engine Marketingaka Keyword advertisingGoogle Adwords, Bing,
YahooPay per click, $0.50-$20,
depending on keywordsMuch more stable source
leadsMust be set up correctly,
or else could be wasting money
Many factors still at play, such as quality score
What about Social Media?What is Social Media?
Blogs (Wordpress, Blogger)Social Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn)Microblogs (Twitter)Location-based (Foursquare)Events (meetup.com, Eventbrite)News and Bookmarking (Digg, Delicious)Much, much more
Free or very cheap, but massive time investment with questionable payoff
Useful for branding as a “modern” company in touch with community
Technically easy - Mostly unrelated to your main websiteAdditional services could be offered by a company or freelancer
Other notes about websitesTechnology platforms
PHP vs .NET, Wordpress vs Joomla, etc.Very difficult to change platforms after much useMust be strategic about technology platform choice
Ecommerce and payment processingEcommerce sites have much more complex requirementsPaypal, Google Checkout, Authorize.NET
High tech web startup idea?“I have an idea!” (next Groupon)Software development teams (internal or external)Management and Product Development can be very complexUnlimited cost potential… $$$$$+ (e.g. Google is a website…)
Mobile and SmartphonesHuge growth… very analogous to .com boom
in 1990siPhone and Android
Blackberry and Windows MobileTablets (iPad)
Mobile Payments (Square)Location-based social media (Foursquare)Location-based advertising for B&M stores
Mobile App vs Mobile WebsiteWhat’s the difference?
Interested in building a mobile app?What’s the purpose?
Generate income? App sales? In-app sales? Marketing? Branding? Customer service?
http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/mobile-app-dev-cost/
iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Win7Market share?
All platforms are very different, apps are not transferrable between platforms
Native app vs Web appHTML5Huge cost of development difference5 Common Reasons for Native Apps
PerformanceOffline ModeFindabilityDevice AttributesMonetization
Native-app onlyGeolocation APICameraAddress BookAccelerometer
Customer Relations ManagementThe “database”Used for B2B sales and account management
LeadsProspectsAccountsNotes
Non-web solutionsMemoryAddress bookExcel
Web-based CRMSalesForce is popular for enterprise
Very full-featuredLots of integration (e.g. mobile phones)Lots of reports (e.g. outstanding accounts)Lots of management (e.g. user roles)
HighRise is popular for startupsMuch simplerCheaperFewer features
Many other options
What is the “Cloud”?Web-based, as opposed to installed on desktopAdvantages
Accessible anywhereMore reliable (practically 24x7, backups handled
automatically)No upgradesPricing
Cheaper, recurring payments instead of one-time purchase Usually freemium = free trial, or free basic version
Can be faster (doesn’t depend on your computer)Disadvantages
Question of data ownershipQuestion of reliabilityTrust in the cloud service provider
Examples of Cloud ServicesPersonal Cloud Services
Email (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail)Photo sharing (Flickr)Video sharing (Youtube)
Business Cloud ServicesGoogle AppsIP telephony (Skype, Grasshopper)Cloud storage (Dropbox)E-Contracts, Digital Signatures (Docusign)Digital Invoicing (Freshbooks)
Thank you!Please fill out the evaluation formAsk me if you have any specific questions
Allan ChaoStartup [email protected]
Startup V8 helps entrepreneurs turn their vision into reality. We handle the entire engineering and product development for new web and mobile startups. Contact us to learn more.